donaldduckfandomcom-20200223-history
Donald Duck
Donald Duck is a cartoon character from The Walt Disney Company. Donald is a short-tempered, impatient, angry, white anthropomorphic duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He usually wears a sailor shirt, cap, and a red or black bowtie, but no trousers, though he wears trunks when he goes swimming. Birthday Donald's birthday is officially recognized as 9 June 1934, the day when his debut film, "The Wise Little Hen, was released. However, in The Three Caballeros (1944), his birthday is given as simply "Friday the 13th," which is in reference to the bad luck that he experiences in almost all of his cartoon appearances. "Donald's Happy Birthday" gives his birthday as March 13. Voice Donald's voice, one of the most identifiable voices in all of animation, was performed by voice actor Clarence "Ducky" Nash up to his death in 1985. It was largely this semi-intelligible speech, that would cement Donald's image into audiences' minds and help fuel both Donald's and Nash's rise to stardom. In 1969, Disney On Parade which toured all over the United States and Canada, hired Ellard Davis as the live voice of Donald Duck. Mr. Davis did the voice for 3 years. Since 1985, Donald has been voiced by Tony Anselmo, who was trained by Nash for the role. Temper Donald's most famous personality trait is his uncontrollable temper. Due to Donald's jealousy towards Mickey's popularity causes Donald to be a type of villain in some occasions. Although Donald can be loud, rude and selfish he is a great friend and will do anything to help a friend. So far Donald's temper has landed him in many tight spots with Daisy in their relationship. Daisy is easily annoyed by Donald's constant temper problems. Donald also has an obsession over money, treasure, gold, etc. which he gets from his Uncle Scrooge. Donald usually chooses riches over friends until someone talks him out of it. Donald can realize he does not have the best luck. Usually when Donald is going head to head with an opponent like a beaver or gopher Donald will get the blame for the destruction they have caused. Middle Name According to the cartoon "Donald Gets Drafted" (1942), Donald's full name is Donald Fauntleroy Duck. This appears to be a reference to his sailor hat, which was a common accessory for "Little Lord Fauntleroy" suits. This middle name is repeated in the Quack Pack episode "All Hands on Duck". Early Appearances According to Leonard Maltin in his introduction to The Chronological Donald - Volume 1, Donald was created by Walt Disney when he heard Clarence Nash doing his "duck" voice while reciting "Mary Had a Little Lamb." Mickey Mouse had lost some of his edge since becoming a role model for children and Disney wanted a character that could portray some of the more negative character traits he could no longer bestow on Mickey. Donald first appeared in the Silly Symphonies cartoon "The Wise Little Hen" on 9 June 1934, though he is mentioned in a 1931 Disney storybook. Donald's appearance in the cartoon, as created by animator Dick Lundy, is similar to his modern look — the feather and beak colors are the same, as is the blue sailor shirt and hat — but his features are more elongated, his body plumper, and his feet bigger. Donald's personality is not developed either. In the short, he only fills the role of the unhelpful friend from the original story. Bert Gillett, director of "The Wise Little Hen", brought Donald back in his Mickey Mouse cartoon, "Orphan's Benefit" on 11 August 1934. Donald is one of a number of characters who are giving performances in a benefit for Mickey's Orphans. Donald's act is to recite the poems "Mary Had a Little Lamb" and "Little Boy Blue", but every time he tries, the mischievous orphans eat his specially-made pie, leading the duck to fly into a squawking fit of anger. This explosive personality would remain with Donald for decades to come. Donald continued to be a hit with audiences. The character began appearing in most Mickey Mouse cartoons as a regular member of the ensemble with Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, and Pluto. Cartoons from this period, such as the 1935 cartoon "The Band Concert" — in which Donald repeatedly disrupts the Mickey Mouse Orchestra's rendition of "The William Tell Overture" by playing "Turkey in the Straw" — are regularly hailed by critics as exemplary films and classics of animation. Animator Ben Sharpsteen also minted the classic Mickey, Donald, and Goofy comedy in 1935, with the cartoon "Mickey's Service Station". Donald was redesigned in 1936 to be a bit fuller, rounder, and cuter. He also began starring in solo cartoons, the first of which was the 9 January 1937 Ben Sharpsteen cartoon, "Don Donald". This short also introduced Donald's long-time love interest, Daisy Duck (here called "Donna Duck") and was the first time Donald Duck called his donkey a jackass. Around the Same year Donald Duck would be in "Modern Inventions" Carl Banks had an idea for Donald Duck to get an upside down haircut and submitted his idea to Walt Disney which Walt approved of and insisted Donald's rear end get heated by a hot towel. Donald's nephews, Huey, Dewey and Louie, would make their first animated appearance a year later in the 15 April 1938 film, "Donald's Nephews", directed by Jack King, though they had been earlier introduced in the Donald Duck comic strip. Wartime Donald During World War II, film audiences were looking for brasher, edgier cartoon characters. It is no coincidence that the same era that saw the birth and rise of Bugs Bunny also saw Donald Duck's popularity soar. By 1949, Donald had surpassed Mickey Mouse as Disney's most popular character. Before 1941, Donald Duck had appeared in about 50 cartoons. Between 1941 and 1965, Donald would star in over 100. During World War II Donald Duck's most memorable cartoons were "Donald's Snow Fight" (1942) where he fights Huey, Dewey and Louie with snow balls. Bellboy Donald where Donald's patience is tried by Pete's naughty son. Several of Donald's shorts during the war were propaganda films, most notably Der Fuehrer's Face, released on January 1, 1943. In it, Donald plays a worker in an artillery factory in "Nutzi Land" (Nazi Germany). He struggles with long working hours, very small food rations, and having to salute every time he sees a picture of Der Führer (Adolf Hitler). These pictures appear in many places, such as on the assembly line in which he is screwing in the detonators of various sizes of shells. In the end he becomes little more than a small part in a faceless machine with no choice but to obey till he falls, suffering a nervous breakdown. Donald wakes up to find that his experience was in fact a nightmare. At the end of the short Donald looks to the Statue of Liberty and the American flag with renewed appreciation. Der Fuehrer's Face won the 1943 Academy Award for Animated Short Film. Other notable shorts from this period include the so-called Army shorts, six films that follow Donald's life in the United States Army from his drafting to his life at boot camp under sergeant Pete to his first actual mission as a commando having to sabotage a Japanese air base. Titles in the series include: *''Donald Gets Drafted ''- (1 May 1942) *''The Vanishing Private'' - (25 September 1942) *''Sky Trooper'' - (6 November 1942) *''Fall Out Fall In'' - (23 April 1943) *''The Old Army Game'' - (5 November 1943) *''Commando Duck'' - (2 June 1944) Donald Gets Drafted also featured Donald having a physical examination before joining the army. According to it Donald has flat feet and is unable to distinguish between the colors green and blue, which is a type of color blindness. Also, Sergeant Pete comments on Donald's lack of discipline. It is also noteworthy that thanks to these films, Donald graced the nose artwork of virtually every type of World War II Allied combat aircraft, from the L-4 Grasshopper scout plane to the B-29 Superfortress heavy bomber. Donald also appears as a mascot-such as in the Army Air Corps 309th Fighter Sq and the U.S Coast Guard Auxiliary"Corsair Fleet" {For Reference only} During World War II, Disney cartoons were not allowed to be imported in Europe. Since this cost Disney a lot of money, he decided to create a new audience for his films in South-America. He decided to make a trip through a lot of Latin American countries with his assistants, and use their experiences and impressions to create two feature length animation films. The first was Saludos Amigos, which consisted of four short segments, one with Donald Duck. Here, he meets his pal Jose Carioca. The second film was The Three Caballeros, in which he meets Panchito. In 1945 Donald Duck would be in his famous cartoon short "The Clock Watcher" 1945 where he's late for work and goofs off at work while gift wrapping presents. Post-War Animation Many of Donald's films made after the war recast the character as the brunt of some other character's pestering. Donald is repeatedly attacked, harassed, and ridiculed by his nephews, by the chipmunks Chip 'n Dale, or by other one-shot characters such as Humphrey the Bear, Buzz the Bee, Bootle Beetle, the Aracuan Bird, Louie the Mountain Lion or a colony of ants. In effect, the Disney artists had reversed the classic "screwball" scenario perfected by Walter Lantz and others in which the main character is the instigator of these harassing behaviors rather than the butt of them. However, by turning the tables, Donald's aggressors come off to some as sadistic or cruel, and some critics have found the films unfunny as a result. The post-war Donald also starred in educational films, such as Donald in Mathmagic Land (1959), and made cameos in various Disney projects, such as The Reluctant Dragon (1941) and the Disneyland television show (1959). For this latter show, Donald's uncle Ludwig von Drake was created in 1961. Since Clarence Nash's death in 1985, Donald's voice has been provided by Tony Anselmo, who was mentored by Nash. Movies Mickey's Christmas Carol Donald played roles as Scrooge's nephew Fred in Mickey's Christmas Carol Who Framed Roger Rabbit He also made an appearance at the Ink and Paint Club competing against Daffy Duck. The Prince and the Pauper Donald played as the right hand man of the Prince with Horace Horsecollar in The Prince and the Pauper. A Goofy Movie Doanld made a cameo appearance with Mickey Mouse in A Goofy Movie. Chicken Little In an alternate opening for the 2005 Disney film Chicken Little, Donald would have made a cameo appearance as "Ducky Lucky." This scene can be found on the Chicken Little DVD. Television DuckTales He featured in a rather small part in the television animated series DuckTales. There, Donald joins the Navy, and leaves his nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie with their Uncle Scrooge, who then has to take care of them. Donald appears in two parts of the series premiere, "Treasure of the Golden Suns", as well as the season 1 episodes "Sphinx for the Memories", "Home Sweet Homer", "A Whale of a Bad Time", "Spies in Their Eyes", "All Ducks on Deck", and "Till Nephews Do Us Part". Bonkers After DuckTales, Donald made a notable cameo appearance in the first episode of Bonkers, in which he is taking a walk through the park before getting captured by a mugger. Bonkers D. Bobcat happens upon Donald and, unaware that the duck is being mugged at the moment, asks for a guest part in his next picture before eventually coming to his rescue when Lucky Piquel shows up to nab the mugger. Quack Pack Three years later, Donald starred in his own Disney Afternoon television show Quack Pack. This series featured a modernized Duck family. Donald was no longer wearing his sailor suit and hat, but a Hawaiian shirt (which he would wear again as Maui Mallard in the game Maui Mallard in Cold Shadow). Huey, Dewey and Louie are teenagers, with distinct clothing, voices and personalities. Daisy Duck has lost her pink dress and bow and has a new hairdo. Oddly enough, no other family members - besides Ludwig Von Drake - appear in Quack Pack and all other Duckburg citizens are humans, not ducks. Mickey Mouse Works Donald next played an important role in Mickey Mouse Works. In the Mouse Works shorts, his role was more or less the same as in the classic shorts. In these shorts, though, he garnered a new adversary in the form of a baby turtle named Shelby, whom he would often have to look after and have a hard time doing so Disney's House of Mouse Donald appears once again in the series House of Mouse as a greeter and co-owner. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Donald Duck reappears as a main character in the computer animated series Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. He joins in nearly every adventure Mickey and Friends set off on and helps the gang solve many puzzling problems. But sometimes he lose his temper so mix-up the problems. Comics While Donald's cartoons enjoy vast popularity in the United States and around the world, his weekly and monthly comic books enjoy their greatest popularity in many European countries, most in Norway and Finland, but many other countries are right behind - most notably Denmark, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Sweden. Most of them are produced and published by the Italian branch of the Walt Disney Company in Italy and by Egmont in Denmark, Norway, Finland and Sweden. According to the Inducks, which is a database about Disney comics worldwide, American, Italian and Danish stories have been reprinted in the following countries. In most of them, publications continue: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, China, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark (Faroe Islands), Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guyana, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States and Yugoslavia. Developments under Barks In 1942, Western Publishing began creating original comic-book stories about Donald and other Disney characters. Bob Karp worked on the earliest of these, a story called "Donald Duck Finds Pirate Gold". The new publisher meant new illustrators, in this case, Carl Barks and Jack Hannah. Barks would later repeat the treasure-hunting theme in many more stories. Barks soon took over the major development of the comic-book version of the duck as both writer and illustrator. Under his pen, the comic version of Donald diverged even further from his animated counterpart, becoming more adventurous, less temperamental, and more eloquent. Pete was the only other major character from the Mickey Mouse comic strip to feature in Barks' new Donald Duck universe. Barks placed Donald in the city of Duckburg, which Barks populated with a host of supporting players, including Gladstone Gander (1948), Gyro Gearloose (1952), Uncle Scrooge McDuck (1947), Magica de Spell (1961), Flintheart Glomgold (1956), The Beagle Boys (1951), April, May and June (1953), Neighbour Jones (1944) and John D. Rockerduck (1961). Many of Taliaferro's characters made the move to Barks' world as well, including Huey, Dewey, and Louie. Barks placed Donald in both domestic and adventure scenarios, and Uncle Scrooge became one of his favorite characters to pair up with Donald. Scrooge's popularity grew, and by 1952, the character had a comic book of his own. At this point, Barks concentrated his major efforts on the Scrooge stories, and Donald's appearances became more focused on comedy or he was recast as Scrooge's reluctant helper, following his rich uncle around the globe. Disney Parks Donald is a extremely common character in the Disney Parks and is in almost every Disney show and in every Disney parade. He is the most common character second only to Mickey Mouse. Mickey's Philharmagic In Mickey's PhilharMagic, Donald is the main character and go through some of Disney biggest musical scenes in order to find Mickey's sorcerer hat. Dream Along with Mickey In the live stage show in the Magic Kingdom Park, Donald along with Mickey, Minnie and Goofy celebrate the magic of dreams. Although Donald attends he does not believe in dreams. Once Maleficent along with Captain Hook and Mr. Smee crash the party Donald with the help of Mickey use the power of dreams to deafeat the three villains. Video Games Magical Quest 3 The third game in Capcom's Magical Quest series (released only in Japan initially) has Donald join Mickey on an adventure to rescue Huey, Dewey and Louie from Pete. Goin' Quackers! Donald Duck: Goin' Quackers!, a multiconsole game, follows Donald on an adventure to rescue Daisy when she is kidnapped by Merlock the Magician. Kingdom Hearts series Kingdom Hearts One day, Donald goes to see the King in the morning, but is shocked to see that he has been kidnapped, leaving behind only a letter in the mouth of the Mickey's dog Pluto, explaining his absence. Donald rushes to tell Goofy about the King's absence, but his secret is quickly discovered by Minnie and Daisy when telling what happened to Goofy. Mickey's letter explains that darkness is threatening the worlds, which appear as stars in the night sky, and have been blinking out one by one. Therefore, he left in order to study and counter the threat, and provides Donald and Goofy with the mission to seek out the "Key". To start, they should head to a world called Traverse Town, and find a man named Squall Leonhart. Donald and Goofy, loyal to their king and concerned about his welfare as well as the worlds', agree to take on the mission. Minnie also introduces them to another traveling companion, Jiminy Cricket, who will chronicle their travels in his journal. With the three of them as well as Pluto, they take the Gummi Ship and begin their journey. Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories Sora, having encountered a mysterious figure, goes with Donald and Goofy to Castle Oblivion. Inside, they discuss going further into the castle, realizing that all four of them, including Jiminy, feel that Riku and the King are in the castle. But before they can progress, they meet the mysterious man once more. Donald, assuming the man to be a Heartless, attacks, but finds out that none of his spells will function. (It is never told how he relearns his spells as they progress into the castle as he is still used for magic as a friend card.) The man reveals that Sora and his friends forgot every single ability they knew as soon as they entered the castle. In addition, the figure remarks that in this castle, they will find someone they know. Granting Sora a card, the figure leaves, and the others are compelled to follow. Sora, using the card, goes deeper into the castle, only to find that he is in Traverse Town. In addition, Donald and Goofy have disappeared, being at the mercy of the cards that control Castle Oblivion. After learning to battle, Sora reunites with Donald and Goofy, who have also gained new clothes. The three continue on, meeting memory versions of the people they have encountered in Kingdom Hearts. Kingdom Hearts II Donald, like Sora and Goofy, has been asleep in special chambers to regain his lost memories. Donald is unknowingly visited by Roxas, Sora's Nobody. Donald and Goofy are the first to wake up out of the trio. Sora awakes soon after and is reunited with Donald and Goofy. The three encounter Hayner, Pence and Olette when they enter Twilight Town, and then a group of Nobodies at the train station, but are saved by the timely arrival of King Mickey, who sends them off to the tower of Yen Sid, who Donald greatly respects. The trio also encounter Pete the Cat at the tower. Donald and Goofy journey with Sora across the stars again in search of the missing Riku, who is actually following them and leaving them clues to his location and Roxas' connection to Sora. Donald helps out several times during the journey, including finally killing Oogie Boogie by stepping on the bug that is his core conscious. However, Donald seems to develop an attraction to treasure (probably an inherited trait from his Uncle Scrooge), as seen in Agrabah, where he fights Abu for a red diamond, and in Port Royal, where Sora and Goofy share a joke about Donald being lost to the curse of the Aztec gold, much to Donald's irritation. Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days Since this game focuses around the time that Roxas was born and his time spent in the Organization, Donald, along with Sora and Goofy, is induced in a deep slumber by Naminé around that time to recover his lost memories. Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Donald appears in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep with Goofy at the Mysterious Tower, the two supporting King Mickey and witnessing him learn to better harness the power of his Keyblade under Yen Sid. At some point within the storyline, both Donald and Goofy encounter Ventus and Aqua, Donald later becoming a Dimension Link for both of them. When Ventus uses the Star Fragment that Yen Sid gave Mickey to transport to the Mysterious Tower, Yen Sid uses magic to tell Mickey's whereabouts and tortured condition. Seeing their king is in trouble, Donald and Goofy prepare to depart for the Keyblade Graveyard, Yen Sid persuades them otherwise to go with Ventus, but Ventus, knowing they are no match for Master Xehanort, decides to go on his own. At the end of the game, Donald observes with Goofy as Mickey hands in the Star Fragment and his Keyblade, thinking he had failed to reach his goal, and is overly thrilled when Yen Sid returns the weapon to his king. Relationships Mickey Mouse Through out his career, Donald has shown that he's jealous of Mickey and wants his job as Disney's greatest star. In the early Disney shorts, Mickey and Donald were partners, but by the time The Mickey Mouse Club aired on television, it was shown that Donald always wanted the spotlight. One animated short that rivaled the famous Mickey Mouse song was showing Huey, Dewey, and Louie as Boy Scouts and Donald as their Scoutmaster at a cliff near a remote forest and Donald leads them in a song mirroring the Mouseketeers theme "D-O-N-A-L-D D-U-C-K-! Donald Duck!" The rivalry would cause Donald some problems, in the 1988 TV special Mickey's 60th Birthday, where Mickey is cursed by a sorcerer to become unnoticed, the world believes Mickey to be kidnapped. Donald Duck is then arrested for the kidnapping of Mickey, as he is considered to be the chief suspect, due to their rivalry. However, Donald did later get the charges dismissed, due to lack of evidence. Walt Disney, in his Wonderful World of Color, would sometimes make reference to the rivalry. Walt, one time, had presented Donald with a gigantic birthday cake and commented how it was "even bigger than Mickey's", which pleased Donald. The clip was rebroadcast in November 1984 during a TV special honoring Donald's 50th birthday. The rivalry between Mickey and Donald has also been shown in Disney's House of Mouse. It was shown that Donald wanted to be the Club's founder and wanted to change the name from House of Mouse to House of Duck. However, in later episodes, Donald accepted that Mickey was the founder and worked with Mickey as a partner to make the club profitable. Mickey Mouse has failed to realize how much Donald does not like him at times, and always counts him as one of his best friends. Despite the rivalry, Donald seems to be an honest friend of Mickey's, and will be faithful to him in tough situations, such as working with Mickey and Goofy as a team akin to the Three Musketeers. In the Kingdom Hearts games, Donald is quite loyal to Mickey, even briefly leaving Sora to follow King Mickey's orders. Beyond Disney Donald Duck is the only popular film and television cartoon character to appear as a mascot for the sports team of a major American university, namely, the Oregon Ducks at the University of Oregon. Donald's name and image are also used on numerous commercial products, one example being Donald Duck Orange Juice, introduced by Citrus World in 1940. In 2004, Donald received his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, joining other fictional characters such as Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, Woody Woodpecker, The Simpsons, Winnie the Pooh, Kermit the Frog, Godzilla and Snow White. Different Appearances Donald and Goofy Episode List #''Polar Trappers'' (1938) #''The Fox Hunt'' (1938, remake of Silly Symphony in 1931) #''The Autograph Hound (1939)'' #''Billposters'' (1940) #''No Sail'' (1945) #''Frank Duck Brings 'Em Back Alive'' (1946) #''Crazy with the Heat'' (1947) #''Donald's Goofy World'' (2001) Movies *''Saludos Amigos'' (1942) *''The Three Caballeros'' (1944) *''Fun and Fancy Free'' (1947) *''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' (1988, cameo) *''A Goofy Movie'' (1995, cameo) *''Fantasia 2000'' (2000) *''Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas'' (1999) *''Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse'' (2001) *''Mickey's House of Villains'' (2002) *''Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas'' (2004) Television Series *''DuckTales'' (1987-1990) *''Donald's Quack Attack'' *''Bonkers'' (1993-1995) (cameo in the first episode) *''Quack Pack'' (1996-1997) *''Mickey Mouse Works'' (1999-2000) *''House of Mouse'' (2001-2003) *''Disney's Mickey Mouse Clubhouse'' (2006-present) Computer and Video Games *''Donald Duck Rescue Quackers'' (1980) *''Donald's Alphabet Chase'' (1988) *''Donald Duck's Playground'' (1988) *''Quackshot'' (1991) *''The Lucky Dime Caper starring Donald Duck'' (1991) *''World of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck'' (1992) *''Deep Duck Trouble Starring Donald Duck'' (1993) *''Maui Mallard in Cold Shadow'' (1996) *''Disney's Donald Duck: Goin' Quackers'' (2000) *''Mickey's Speedway USA'' (2000) *''Kingdom Hearts'' (2002) *''Disney Golf'' (2002) *''Disney's PK: Out of the Shadows'' (2002) *''Track & Field Cartoons : Disney v.s. Parodius (2003) *''Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories (2004) *''Kingdom Hearts II'' (2005) *''Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days'' (2009) *''Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep'' (2010) Category:Characters Category:Ducklopedia